One to Watch: Beneil Dariush vs. Michael Chiesa

Saturday night's UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans (otherwise known as UFC on Fox 19) will be the promotion's second visit to Tampa, Florida, following UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens in February 2009.

Headlined by Brazilian brawler Glover Teixeira and former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, this card has had to be chopped and changed due to a plethora of unfortunate, unforeseen situations surfacing in the weeks leading up to the event.

This Fox show was originally slated to be headlined by the returning Khabib Nurmagomedov and rising lightweight star Tony Ferguson. This was a highly-anticipated contest between two men who has verbally sparred for years while the Russian Nurmagomedov was sidelined through injury. But, on this occasion, Ferguson pulled out of the fight due to a lung issue just 11 days before the event. Nurmagomedov has since been paired up with promotional newcomer Darrell Horcher at a catchweight of 160lbs.

Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson were also scheduled to fight on Saturday night as rematch of their first fight back at UFC 157 in early 2013. But, this week saw Machida hauled out of the fight having declared the usage of a banned substance during an out-of-competition USADA drug test. The anabolic agent, 7-Keto-DHEA, is present in a supplement the Brazilian claimed to have unknowingly consumed.

However, like all UFC on Fox cards, there are plenty of other fights to take up the slack of the above fights falling through so disappointingly. One of which will see Tampa's Amalie Arena bear witness to a showdown between two of the lightweight division's shining lights in Beneil Dariush and Michael Chiesa.

Both men share an impressive ground game, with 13-2 Chiesa winning 69% of his fights by way of submission and Dariush emerging victorious by the same method 50% of the time in his 12-1 record. Neither man has the most dangerous striking arsenal around. But, their respective, top-level ground games are exciting in their own right.

Dariush, ranked 7th in the UFC lightweight reckoning, is presently riding a five-fight winning streak in his division—a run punctuated by a controversial split decision victory over the tough Michael Johnson. The Johnson fight aside, Dariush has beat the likes of Jim Miller and Daron Cruickshank in that run which started after a shock KO loss to Ramsey Nijem in his sophomoric appearance in the UFC's Octagon.

Speaking of his upcoming opponent, Dariush told BloodyElbow: "He's a tough guy. He's got lots of heart, he's getting better every fight - you can see it—his technique is improving every fight. So, I'm excited to fight him. I believe, in every aspect, I'm better, but I have to prove that the night of the fight."

In that same interview, Dariush questioned the match-up given their respective UFC rankings with Chiesa down in 14th. The Californian of Assyrian descent puts it down to his key training partner at King's MMA—present UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. "With my teammate, Rafael dos Anjos, being the champion, if you think about it, for the UFC it doesn't make sense for them to give me top five guys if I'm not gonna fight the champion.

"If I beat the number five person, then that puts [the UFC] in an awkward situation, especially if I'm in line for a title shot, because I'm not gonna fight Rafa. I think that's why they're trying to build guys off me, which I don't mind, because my job is to compete against the best guys in the world."

"I think we're gonna have a sit down and talk after [the Chiesa fight]. We're gonna have one more fight each and we're gonna sit down and talk about it and see what's the best. It can't be just a decision based on one person; it can't be a selfish move. But, my goal is greatness, so whether it is at 155 or 170 doesn't really matter."

Chiesa is 6-2 in the UFC, having dropped losses to Jorge Masvidal and Joe Lauzon. The Ultimate Fighter winner, however, is enjoying a two-fight win streak with victories over Mitch Clarke and Jim Miller—a top-level Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt of which he submitted.

Speaking to Yahoo's Kevin Iole, Chiesa talked of his issues in lacking confidence in his first Octagon outings before his fight against the aforementioned Miller. Chiesa is looking to capitalize on his new found buoyancy.

"In the past, I've lacked confidence and sometimes that can show physically. I've always said that as I've gotten older and come into my prime, when I turned 28 would be my best time.

"Against Jim, my theme was 'Putting my best foot forward.' I just kept repeating that and that's what I have done pretty much ever since. I got what I asked for, a tough fight against a difficult and talented opponent, but I'm confident now and I don't think I can compete at that level. I know I can."

Despite the disparity in their respective UFC rankings, this fight has definitive implications in arguably the most exciting weight class in all of MMA. Can Chiesa maintain this new boost in confidence and climb his way up the rankings? Will Dariush have to hold some awkward conversations with his gym mates at King's MMA about his future in the lightweight division? We will find out on Saturday night.